My problems=mule problems

It’s a funny thing, that connection between animals and people.  It seems like whatever concern I have about myself, it is mirrored in one or more of my animals.  When I was overweight, my legs would swell up some.  Not too bad, but enough to know I wasn’t 100 %.  Sally my mule began to have knee problems last winter, with some swelling in her legs.  I started the Weight Watchers program for myself.  Nearly at the same time, I learned through professionals, one of the reasons for her knee and leg swelling was extra weight--that I had been feeding or allowing Sally to have too much food.  I put her on a bit of a diet, too.  Within a few months, I lost those extra 20 lbs, the swelling in my legs and ankles reduced tremendously.  Sally’s legs and knees became fine again and we both are nearly 100 % now.

Ivan, the hinny, had teeth problems.  Funny thing is that I had lost a portion of my tooth about 4 years ago and had a temporary fix from the dentist.  Since then, there has been a sharp point on my tooth and it sometimes bothered me.  The dentist had said it needed a crown, so I just dealt with the point.  In the meantime, Ivan began dropping food out of his mouth (sign of teeth problems) and I’ve had to fix his feed so he can keep weight on.  Without a truck and horse trailer, it wasn’t easy to get Ivan to a specialized equine dentist, so I had put it off for quite a while.  Well, this year I arranged to sponsor an equine dentist at my farm.  She is coming in a few weeks.  I promised Ivan I’d get my tooth fixed, too.  Last week I made a dreaded dentist appointment and unluckily they had an opening right away.  I went in a couple days later and the dentist drilled down the point on my tooth and said I don’t really need a crown unless something happens.  In 2 weeks, Ivan will have his teeth filed down and I have no doubt that it will be a success, as mine was. 

I told the dentist that for my animals to be healthy, I must be healthy.  That whatever my mind is focused on, they seem to have similar problems.  Amazing how they can mirror us in some fashion.